Written by: Stuart Chirls, Senior Editor Rail traffic in the U.S. totaled 543,179 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 17, a gain of 5.2% compared with the same week in 2016, according to the Association of American Railroads. Volume totaled 266,402 carloads, up 6.2%, while intermodal volume was 276,777 containers and trailers, a gain of 4.3% on-year. Coal continued to improve in 2017, up 15.1 percent to 87,066 carloads but grain shipments, which had also been strong cooled, off 4.6% to 21,677 carloads. Among six of 10 tracked commodity groups that improved was nonmetallic minerals, up 15.5% to 39,654 carloads, and chemicals, up 5.7% to 31,288 carloads. Weaker commodities from a year ago included petroleum and petroleum products, down 12.4% to 9,326 carloads, and motor vehicles and parts, down 8.1% to 17,189 carloads. For the first 24 weeks of 2017, U.S. cumulative volume was 6,165,596 carloads, ahead 6.8% from the same period in 2016, and 6,335,475 intermodal units, up 2.5%. Total combined U.S. traffic was 12,501,071 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 4.6%. North American rail freight on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads for the week ending June 17 totaled 363,399 carloads, up 8.4%, and 356,805 intermodal units, up 6.8%. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 720,204 carloads and intermodal units, up 7.6%. North American rail volume for the first 24 weeks of this year was 16,564,178 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.7% percent compared with 2016. Canadian railroads reported 78,763 carloads for the week, up 17.1%, and 67,962 intermodal units, up 17.8% from the same week in 2016. For the first 24 weeks of 2017, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,418,962 carloads, containers and trailers, ahead 11.6%. Mexican railroads reported 18,234 carloads for the week, up 6.4%, while 12,066 intermodal units were better by 10%. Cumulative volume for the first 24 weeks of 2017 of 644,145 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers slid 1.4% from a year ago. Continue reading...
